Ocean of Deceit
by dragoncymru
Summary: The Doctor has left Katherine and Megan alone on an alien world. Will they manage to escape the danger and intrigue that awaits them in Reef City One? And who or what is 'Aquarius? Another in my 'TARDIS Adventures' series that follows 'Never Say Die.'
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Slocum drew his blaster and quickly opened the hatch to the aqua-pod. He saw the two girls that he had questioned earlier and two men that he recognised. It gave him a slight grim pleasure that he had been right about the identity of the thieves.

One of the men held a small gun so Slocum didn't hesitate and fired immediately, hitting the man squarely in the chest. With a groan, the man crashed lifeless to the floor.

The other man didn't pause and dashed up the opposite steps and into the cockpit of the pod. The two girls threw themselves hurriedly behind some couches, obviously not wanting to get between Slocum and his prey. Slocum ignored them as he strode through the lounge and followed the man, his blaster raised.

Suddenly, the engines of the aqua-pod roared into life and it darted away from the jetty just as Slocum had reached the top of the cockpit steps. Slocum fired at the man who had reached the controls, but was caught off balance. Instead of hitting the man, the blaster shot had blown a large hole in the cockpit front window. Now Slocum held precariously onto a handrail as the pod accelerated away into the water.

The man at the controls kicked out viciously at Slocum and the blaster fell from his grip and clattered to the floor. With a snarl, Slocum hurled himself onto his opponent and the two men fell backwards onto the controls of the pod. As they did so, their bodies hit the rudder control of the pod sending it into a deep dive. Both men were thrown forward and with a terrible cry, they vanished through the gaping and jagged hole in the front of cockpit window.

Dock water began to flood into the pod with incredible speed as the pod dived below the waters.

In the passenger lounge, Katherine crawled across to Megan. "What are we going to do?" she yelled as water rushed around them and rapidly started to fill the cabin.

**1.**

Katherine and Megan watched sadly as the TARDIS dematerialised in front of them. The wheezing groaning sound of the engines faded away until they could no longer hear it. Katherine turned to Megan who was doing up her denim jacket. "Well?" she sighed.

Megan shrugged, turning up the collar of her jacket. "I don't know. We'll just have to wait for him." Katherine nodded and Megan could see that her friend was worried. She put her hand on Katherine's arm. "Trust him. He'll come back; he wouldn't leave us stranded!"

Katherine managed a smile. "I know."

Megan tried to be a bit more cheerful. "Come on, let's take a look around," she said breezily. "Where did the Doctor say we were?"

"Reef City One, wherever that is!" replied Katherine with a frown.

They glanced around them. They seemed to be in a plastic or opaque glass tunnel about ten feet high with a hemispherical ceiling. Small lights ran down both sides of the tunnel.

Megan looked both ways but there seemed to be no-one about, so she pointed forwards. Katherine shrugged and nodded and both girls started to walk forwards noticing that there was some kind of junction a few metres ahead of them. As they reached the junction they both stopped and stared in awe at the sight around them. The tunnel here wasn't constructed out of opaque plastic but clear toughed glass that gave them fantastic view of an incredible vista.

They were in an incredible underwater city with buildings and towers that soared up into the darkness of the ocean above. Myriad lights flashed and twinkled, covering all the buildings and the connecting tunnels and walkways. Some of the buildings were attached to a magnificent reef that spread out over the ocean floor like a mountain. Fish of startling colours and hues swam gracefully over and under them, darting in between the tunnels. Small sleek submersibles were propelled through the water, their headlights flashing in the dark and illuminating more fish that quickly swam away.

Megan's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Oh my God," she stammered, dazzled by the colours and lights.

Katherine caught her breath. "It's so beautiful!" she whispered.

Megan laughed. "Thank you Doctor! Katherine; welcome to Reef City One!"

**2.**

Megan turned to Katherine, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "We're going to have such a great time!" she squealed and then another thought struck her. "That card the Doctor gave us?"

Katherine nodded; she still had it in her hand and held it up.

Megan almost snatched it from her, her eyes wide with anticipation. "A million credits the Doctor said! Boy, are we going to do some shopping! Come on!" Megan grabbed the slightly bewildered Katherine by the arm and propelled her to what looked like an escalator that rose gently up another walkway and into a building.

At the other end of the escalator there was a small electronic information screen built into the wall. Megan cautiously pressed a button and large maps of the underwater city sprang into view.

Megan grinned at Katherine. "Hey, that wasn't so difficult!" She studied the maps and gave a low whistle. "This place certainly is big! It's like an underwater Manhattan! Now then…….." she pressed a few more buttons and some red dots began to flash up on the screen.

"What are they?" asked Katherine.

Megan just grinned. "Shopping malls!"

************************

The plush office was dark as the executive certainly didn't want anyone to know he was there. The only light came from the screen of the laptop on the large desk in front of him. He tapped quietly away at the keys, watching the graphics on the screen change in front of him. He paused as he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door and hurriedly pulled the screen down to reduce the light output. He held his breath and waited, knowing that if they discovered him here he would be killed. But the footsteps moved on and the man let out his breath slowly, pulling the lid of the laptop open again.

He examined the graphics and saw the figures changing on the screen. He smiled as he saw the figures decrease rapidly. That would show them! He punched a few more keys and the graphics faded to be replaced with the screen saver; two wavy blue lines, one on top of each other – the corporate logo of 'Aquarius'.

**3.**

The two girls spent the next few hours doing some serious retail therapy. Katherine, although a little hesitant at first, had soon become caught up with Megan's infectious enthusiasm for buying clothes. They must have tried on dozens of dresses, tops, shoes, coats and jackets, and driven various shop assistants to distraction. In one shop where the assistant had not been particularly helpful, Megan had laughed and told her that she had 'made a big mistake; huge!' It was only later when she tried to explain the plot of 'Pretty Woman' to Katherine that her friend had some idea why Megan had found the whole incident so amusing – especially as she had on more than one occasion called her 'Julia Roberts'!

Although Megan had certainly bought her fair share of clothes, it was Katherine however that had really been transformed. Megan had taken one look at the summer dress Katherine had be wearing and declared it 'so last century darling'! Katherine had half heartedly tried to explain to Megan that this was all new to her and that she would much rather be wearing a full length Renaissance gown anyway, but Megan would have none of it.

Now Katherine wore a shimmering crimson top with jagged neck line, smart dark trousers and high boots, and over these wore an expensive long dark grey leather coat. Megan took one look at her friend and knew she looked stunning. Katherine was used to elegance and wore clothes well. She certainly turned enough male heads as the girls trudged along the walkways to their hotel carrying bags of shopping in their arms.

Now they had dumped all their shopping bags in their rather luxurious room. Megan had found a hotel she had liked on one of the electronic information screens and booked it using the credit card the Doctor had given them, opting for a deluxe suite naturally! After a long hot bath, both were ready for something to eat and drink and had found a table at the hotel restaurant.

Both were blissfully unaware that they were being watched.

**4.**

The hotel restaurant was a fantastic place with one wall made completely from glass that looked out onto the ocean beyond. Tiny multi-coloured lights played over the coral reef below the city turning into a magical grove. The lights in the restaurant were dim with tables lit softly so as not to spoil the incredible vista beyond.

Katherine gazed appreciatively at the extensive menu. She was used to fine cuisine and the choices on offer at the restaurant seemed excellent with an obvious accent on fish and seafood. Megan, on the other hand, felt a bit lost and realised that this was a real role reversal of what she had put Katherine through in their shopping spree. So she just shrugged and smiled, put down the menu and let Katherine order for her.

After a few moments, and with the help of a very attentive waiter, Katherine chose fresh sea scallops with a herb and butter dressing as a starter, followed by a fillet of sea bass with fresh vegetables. For Megan, who told Katherine that she quite liked spicy food, Katherine chose king prawns with chilli and garlic to start, followed by a fresh lobster dressed with crab. With some beautifully fresh crusty bread and some glasses of a wonderful Chardonnay – French naturally – this was a meal to remember!

The girls were just polishing off the last remains of some chocolate profiteroles and cream that Megan declared 'were to die for' when Katherine dropped her napkin on the floor. She bent down to retrieve it, pushing her chair backwards and accidentally pushed against the legs of a man who happened to be walking behind her.

There was a crash of glass as, with a curse, the man dropped the bottle of wine he had been carrying and hopped backwards clutching his injured leg. He turned around, ready to deliver let loose his anger just as Katherine looked up, full of apology. "I'm so sorry monsieur, I didn't see you!"

The man, who was tall with slicked back black hair and really quite handsome, was dressed in a black dinner suit. He opened his mouth to deliver some stinging retort and then closed it again when he realised that, in the first place, it had been an accident, and in the second, Katherine was quite beautiful. "That's all right, I can see you didn't mean it," he smiled. "It was a terrible waste of a good wine though," he shrugged looking down at the remains of the smashed bottle as waiters hurried over to clean up the mess. He extended his hand. "My name's Jeff Davenport, but my friends call me 'JD'."

**5.**

It was almost, Megan described later with a rueful smile, 'a pink fluffy moment'.

Katherine put out her hand to shake Davenport's hand but instead he reached down and kissed it. Katherine was quite used to this sort of attention, at least before she had married her beloved Remy, and played it beautifully, giving a short bob and widening her big brown eyes. "My name is Katherine de Gallois, monsieur Davenport."

Davenport smiled, still holding Katherine's hand. "Enchanted mademoiselle!"

Katherine took back her hand and gestured towards Megan. "And this is my friend Megan Williams."

Megan just grinned and gave a little wave. "Hi there!"

Davenport grinned back at Megan. "Nice to meet you Megan, and call me 'JD' please!"

Katherine smiled; she was good at this game. She pointed to an empty seat on their table. "Won't you join us JD, let us buy you a new bottle of wine at least?" She caught a waiter's eye that was hovering nearby and he nodded and scurried off to the bar.

JD grinned. "That's very generous of you, how can I refuse?" He leaned forwards. "Now what are you two lovely ladies doing all alone in Reef City One?"

Megan chuckled. "Who says we're alone?"

JD held up his hands. "Hey, no offence, I'm not trying to lay any cheesy lines on you believe me!"

The waiter arrived with a bottle of wine and after a nod from Katherine, poured it into three fresh glasses before withdrawing.

JD took an appreciative sip from the wine. "Great choice, look, if you are alone, let me show you around."

Megan raised an eyebrow, noticing JD's interest in Katherine. "And by 'you', you mean 'us' right?"

JD laughed. "Yeah, sure; you're both welcome. What do you say? I know some fun places."

Katherine exchanged a glance with Megan and decided to flirt a bit more. "And how would you know those?"

JD took a business card from his pocket. On one side were two wavy blue lines, one above the other. "I work for the Aquarius Corporation. I've been at Reef City One since it was built believe me!" He took another sip of wine. "Some business clients have hired an aqua-pod to go and explore the reef tomorrow. Care to tag along?"

Megan looked excitedly at Katherine who smiled. "Sounds like fun!"

**6.**

The next morning, after a good night's rest in fabulously comfortable beds, Megan and Katherine had met up with JD in a huge chamber that served as a dock for submarines that the locals termed 'aqua-pods'. These came in various sizes from bulk carriers to the smaller, privately owned models. It seemed that Reef City One was only one part of the underwater terra-forming on the planet and there were other, smaller habitations on the ocean bed that could be reached using the aqua-pods. There were also, as JD had explained the night previously, private homes, way-stations and industrial complexes. The dock itself was a fairly large chamber about the size of a football field that was half flooded with water. Jetties led to the various aqua-pods that were moored there. In the sides of the chamber were large portholes that led to airlocks that would fully flood with water and release the aqua-pod into the ocean beyond.

JD had met both girls with friendly embraces, although Megan noticed with a flicker of a smile, he certainly held Katherine just a fraction longer. He then introduced five business associates, two men and one woman, all dressed impeccably and clearly stinking rich, together with two aliens. Both girls were taken aback at first as all their previous encounters with aliens with the Doctor had been hostile. The aliens were the size of a man and a cross between a lizard and a tropical fish in appearance. They were generally green in colour but with glittering scales of different hues, some blue, some gold and some scarlet. These, as JD later told the girls, were Lemerians, the indigenous population of the planet. The Lemerians also lived under the oceans in beautiful coral cities, the nearest being a few days travel by aqua-pod. The Lemerians were quite peaceful and traded and co-operated freely with the Aquarius Corporation that ran Reef City One.

After a small champagne and canapé reception at the dock, they had all entered a very elegant aqua-pod about the size of a yacht. One of the JD's clients, a man called Bradley, had taken to the controls and steered the pod expertly towards the nearest airlock, whilst the other guest relaxed on comfortable white leather sofas

As the sleek aqua-pod left the airlock and swept out into the ocean, both Megan and Katherine knew that the experience would stay with them for the rest of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

**7.**

Megan sipped at another glass of champagne. They had been travelling for a few hours now, having left the lights and towers of Reef City One far behind them. She smiled across at Katherine. "This is fantastic!"

Katherine nodded, sliding slightly towards Megan and away from JD who, naturally, had sat next to her. "I know!" She gazed out of the glass compartment at the wonders of the magnificent reef below them and the fabulous aquatic life that darted all around. Bright, tiny lights were dotted about the outside of the viewing compartment so the ocean beyond was illuminated. "The Doctor would love this!"

A worried look passed between the two girls that JD picked up on. "Who's the Doctor?" he asked.

Katherine smiled. "A friend. He's going to meet up with us," she paused slightly, "a few days."

Tyson and Dara, JD's other two business clients, were a young engaged couple. They clinked their glasses before holding hands as they gazed out into the ocean. "It's incredible JD! I'm glad you talked us into coming out here!" said Tyson

Dara, an attractive woman with long blonde hair, nodded. "It's so beautiful!"

"No problem," JD assured him, "only the best for my clients!"

Megan glanced across at the two Lemerians who sat quietly on the sofas, their drinks untouched, as they watched the iridescent shoals of fish swim by.

"Where are we going?" Katherine asked JD.

"A little place I know with a great restaurant and a brilliant view of the reef. We can get out, stretch our legs and have something to eat while they refuel the pod."

Suddenly the aqua-pod gave a lurch and the passengers were thrown off their feet. JD caught Katherine in his arms with a grin, but a flicker of irritation crossed his face. "Hey, what the Hell was that?"

Tyson picked Dara up where she had stumbled onto one of the couches. "You okay?" he asked and she nodded.

The Lemerians looked at one another, their alien faces unreadable.

Megan looked around in alarm. "What's going on?" The aqua-pod was going downwards towards the reef.

Katherine pulled away from JD as he moved forward to shout up to the cockpit. "Hey Brad, is everything okay?"

There was no reply.

Megan started forward and climbed quickly up the steps to see Bradley slumped over the controls. "Help me," she shouted back, "I think he's collapsed!"

**8.**

Out of the cockpit window, the reef loomed like a dark mountain in front of the plummeting aqua-pod.

Megan reached out and pulled Bradley off the controls, pushing him back in his seat. He didn't stir but just lolled lifelessly. "Oh my God," whispered Megan, "I think he's dead!"

JD pushed past her. "Never mind about him now," he shouted as he reached the controls, "unless we level off this pod we're going to smash into the reef!" He frantically pulled a lever towards him to slow the descent of the pod and throw the engines into reverse, whilst he twisted the steering wheel to the left to avoid a nearby pillar of coral.

There was a nasty scrape as the pod collided obliquely with the coral, and the pod lurched to one side throwing the passengers inside it to the floor again. JD managed to hold onto the wheel however and quickly pushed some more buttons. As he pushed up a lever, the pod began to level off and slow to a safe speed.

JD let out a slow breath. "I think we made it!" He pressed some more buttons to put the pod on automatic.

Megan was so relieved that she forgot that JD usually irritated her and hugged him. Then she pulled away and was all business again as she looked down at Bradley's body. "What happened to him?"

JD shrugged and then shouted down to the passenger lounge. "Hey, Tyson, you'd better get up here!" He turned back to Megan. "He's got medical training," he explained.

In the passenger lounge below, Tyson was holding a frightened Dara when he heard the shout. Katherine had reluctantly gone to help one of the Lemerians that had cut its' head on one of the walls when the pod had lurched. It regarded silently her with its' cold black eyes and nodded its' thanks.

Tyson appeared at the top of the cockpit stairs and saw Bradley's body. He immediately crossed to it and took a pulse. Then he felt the neck and looked into the eyes and mouth.

"Heart attack?" asked JD grimly.

Tyson shook his head slowly. "No, I think he's been poisoned!"

**9.**

Megan looked at Tyson in disbelief. "What? You're joking!" But the look on his face told her he wasn't. Megan took a deep breath to steady her nerves and then noticed the empty champagne glass that lay smashed on the floor of the cockpit. "That's Bradley's glass – it could have been the champagne!" she whispered.

"Now hold on a minute," began JD indignantly, "We don't know what's happened here!"

Tyson nodded in agreement. "You're right; the last thing we want is a panic!"

But Megan could see that Tyson was worried as he left the cockpit to rejoin his fiancé.

Katherine's head appeared at the bottom of the cockpit stairs. "What's happening?" she asked as she climbed up the steps. "I think everyone's alright down there, just cuts and bruises." She saw the look on Megan's face and immediately knew something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Bradley's dead," Megan explained pointing to the body. "Tyson thinks he's been poisoned!"

Katherine's eyes widened in fear. "We have to get back to the Reef City!"

Megan nodded but JD shook his head. "We can't."

Megan put her hands on her hips. "You're not suggesting we just carry on are you?"

JD turned to face her, his face dark. "We haven't enough fuel," he said angrily. We have to go on to Triton station, I know the manager there; we'll be alright!" He turned back to the controls as Megan made a face behind his back.

Suddenly, Katherine pointed out of the front screen. "Look, there's another aqua-pod!"

Megan glanced up and indeed there was another pod heading towards them. This pod was slightly larger and more bulky and functional. It didn't look like a pleasure craft at all.

JD touched the wheel to move their aqua-pod to the left a little. "They're heading straight for us," he muttered suspiciously. Then he gave a shout as he saw a burst of telltale bubbles on the underside of the other pod. "They've released a torpedo! Hold on you two!"

JD grabbed the wheel and slammed the accelerator lever forward as the sleek yet deadly missile streaked towards them

**10.**

Katherine and Megan held on for dear life as the aqua-pod shot forwards just in time to avid being hit by the oncoming torpedo. The missile flew past them and struck an outcropping of coral. The resounding shock wave rocked the aqua-pod to the side and the girls were thrown across the cockpit.

JD held onto the wheel grimly and handled the pod with considerable skill, pushing it as fast as it would go.

Katherine got to her knees and looked behind them. "It's coming after us!" she shouted as she saw the other pod turn to pursue them.

The two pods streaked through the dark ocean. JD darted and twisted from side to side, trying to out run the other pod, but he couldn't shake it.

Megan stayed safely on the floor feeling decidedly sick. She glanced down the stairs to see the other passengers, human and Lemerian alike, all terrified as they realised the pod was under attack.

"They've launched again!" shouted JD, and then threw the wheel forward sending the pod into a steep dive.

The torpedo rushed over their heads and smashed into a large piece of reef sending debris hurtling outwards and churning the ocean into a mass of foam and bubbles. JD used the distraction to dart beneath a low overhang of the reef and instantly cut all the engines and lights, plunging the pod into darkness.

"What are you doing?" cried Megan.

"Silent running; now shut up!" JD ordered brusquely.

Megan opened her mouth to argue but could see the cleverness of the plan and did as she was told.

Moments passed and the passengers inside the pod could hear the engines of the other pod as it circled around trying to locate its' prey. Katherine swallowed nervously, unconsciously holding her breath.

Moments turned to minutes and then the engine sound of the other pod got fainter and fainter as it moved off into the depths of the ocean.

Katherine let out her breath as JD slowly brought up the lights in the pod and started the engines slowly. He grinned at her and Katherine was so relieved that she leant over and kissed him on the cheek. "You do have you moments," she whispered with a smile.

JD grinned at the affection and the frowned as he checked the controls.

"What is it?" asked Megan, fearing the worst.

"We used most of our remaining fuel in that chase," replied JD slowly, "I only hope we have enough to get to Triton station!"

**11.**

As their aqua-pod pulled into the airlock at Triton station an hour or so later, everyone on board had breathed a huge sigh of relief. They had not encountered any more hostile pods and knew full well that if they had then it would have meant their certain deaths.

Triton station wasn't exactly a first class resort and reminded Megan of an American motel with a diner and fuel station attached. The location was fantastic however. Triton was perched on a high piece of the reef that looked out over an ocean trench that teemed with coral and aquatic life.

JD had assured the passengers, including a sceptical Megan, that he knew the manager of the station well and would sort out the issue of Bradley's body with the authorities. He had found them a bar to a get a drink and some food and then set off to clear things up and refuel the aqua-pod so that they could return to Reef City One.

Megan and Katherine sat next to a table in a corner booth as they munched on some sandwiches and sodas. It certainly was a come-down from the fabulous restaurant in their hotel. The low lighting of the bar, meant to give a better view of the ocean beyond, instead gave it a slightly seedy air. This was made worse by some of the neon lighting around the outside of the bar windows wasn't working.

Megan chewed her sandwich thoughtfully. It was some kind of fish that tasted a bit like tuna. She looked about the half empty bar There were only a few other people besides the two girls, mostly men and all of which looked a bit rough. Dara had been still shaken by their recent traumatic voyage and so Tyson had found a room for them both to get some rest. The two Lemerians were also in the bar and sat at a table close to the window and gazing out onto the ocean as a small herd of aquatic mammals, a little like manatees, swam past.

"They're called Kelupan," explained Katherine softly and startling Megan out of her brooding. "The Lemerians told me when we saw some from the aqua-pod."

Megan drained her soda. "Where's JD? He's certainly taking his time!"

Katherine nodded and slid out of the booth. "He'll be back. I'd better pay for these," she said indicating the food and drink and searched inside the pocket of her leather coat for the credit chip the Doctor had given them. Suddenly she went pale and started searching frantically through her pockets.

"What is it?" asked Megan with alarm.

Katherine pulled out a pocket of her coat. The lining had been cut away. "Megan, it's gone!"

**12**.

Megan stared at her friend and the coat in horror. "We've been robbed!"

Katherine just shrugged, panic starting to well up inside her. "I don't know! We'd better find JD!"

Megan nodded and slid out from the booth. "You're right." Then a sudden thought struck her and her face tightened with anger, a nasty suspicion forming in her mind. "Unless he's the one that robbed us!" She started towards the door of the bar. "Come on!"

As the girls crossed the bar, the bartender looked up angrily and pointed back to their table. "Hey! You're not going anywhere girls; not until you pay for what you've had!"

Megan paused and then grabbed Katherine's hand. "Run!" she shouted, and the two girls sprinted from the bar with the bartender shouting after them. As the doors swung closed behind them, they could hear the sound of running feet – they were being pursued.

They found themselves in an open area, like a small courtyard, with several apartment doors on two levels on three of the walls of the chamber. A fourth wall was glass and looked out into the ocean and a tunnel leading to the parked aqua-pods led off from it.

Megan looked desperately around. They had to hide quickly before they were caught. Luckily, she noticed one of the apartment doors nearby was open and she shoved Katherine inside and closed the door behind them, just leaving it open a crack. She peered through the crack to see the bartender and three other rough looking men, possibly bouncers, running through the courtyard and down the tunnel to the aqua-pods. Megan breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Katherine. "They've gone! Now what?"

Katherine thought for a moment. "We need to find JD; perhaps Tyson and Dara will know where he is?"

Megan nodded. "Good idea. What room did they take?"

"Thirty one," Katherine remembered.

Megan checked that the coast was clear and then the girls sprinted out of the apartment and up a flight of metal stairs to the next level of rooms. It was only a few moments before they found room thirty one and Megan hammered urgently on the door. "Tyson, Dara?" she called quietly.

There was no reply, and instead the door swung open to reveal a wrecked apartment within.

**13.**

Katherine and Megan were both shocked at what they saw. The room was a complete mess with sheets and pillows from the bed on the floor, a table and chairs toppled and the drawers from a dresser pulled out, their contents emptied onto the floor. There was no sign of either Tyson or Dara.

'Oh my God," whispered Megan from the doorway. "What's happened?"

Katherine shrugged as she stepped into the room. "I don't know. Do you think they're…..?" She left the awful question hanging in the air.

Megan took a deep breath but shook her head. "There's no sign of any blood, but this place is a mess!" She bit her lip in thought. "There could've been a struggle, or perhaps someone was looking for something?"

Katherine nodded slowly. "Oh Megan, this is turning out to be a nightmare! What are we going to do?"

Megan turned to Katherine. "We'd better get out of here and back to Reef City One."

Katherine nodded. "I hope the Doctor won't be too long!"

They opened the door of the wrecked apartment and checked that the coast was clear. There was no-one about and they seemed to have eluded the wrath of the bartender and his bouncers. As quickly as possible, they scurried along the walkway and down the metal stairs to the courtyard. Their luck held and the two girls managed to cross the open space and enter the tunnel that led to the docks and the aqua-pods.

"I hope JD at least managed to refuel the pod before…." Megan broke off.

"Are you going to try and drive it?" asked Katherine nervously.

Megan nodded. "What else can we do?"

The girls entered the dock and skidded to a halt. Although there were a few aqua-pods moored at various jetties, the one they arrived in with JD and the others was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, at one of the jetties close by was the dark, bulky aqua-pod that had pursued them earlier. As Megan and Katherine exchanged a shocked look, the hatch to the pod opened and two men in dark suits emerged. Both were carrying blasters in holsters and saw the girls immediately.

Katherine looked at Megan who nodded. "Run!"


	3. Chapter 3

**14.**

Katherine and Megan turned and started to dash back up the tunnel that led from the dock. But they had only got a few metres when ahead of them they spotted another three men. They were all dressed in dark suits and one who had a short beard was also carrying a briefcase. As soon as they saw the two girls, the men reached inside their jackets for blasters.

The girls changed direction yet again and ran back out of the tunnel and into the dock. The two men from the aqua-pod had now got closer. "Hey, you two; stop or we shoot!" one yelled.

But Megan and Katherine had no intention of getting caught and raced along the dock and onto the jetties. A blue bolt of energy exploded on the metal floor making Katherine jump aside with a scream. More blaster shots followed as the girls zigzagged away.

Then Megan noticed one of the hatches of the aqua-pods slightly open and she pulled Katherine over to it. She tugged hard at the hatch and pushed Katherine through as another blaster bolt exploded next to her. She risked a look backwards and saw that all five of the men were now closing in on them. With a deep breath, she jumped into the aqua-pod and pulled the hatch closed behind her.

Katherine had already reached the cockpit of the pod which was a little smaller than the one they had travelled in with JD. She quickly examined at the controls before her, trying to remember how the pod was controlled. Fortunately, Katherine had a good memory and was a fast learner. Despite her unfamiliarity with technology, she pressed the ignition button confidently and pushed the motor lever forward.

The pod surged forwards as Megan entered the cockpit and then lurched to a stop. Katherine looked back over her shoulder at Megan. "We forgot to cast off the mooring line!" shouted Megan.

"No time now!" muttered Katherine and pushed the accelerator forward again. The pod strained against the line and then, with another lurch, snapped the line and leapt forwards from the dock and under the water.

"We've done it!" Megan laughed, punching the air and looking back to see the five men standing helplessly on the jetty. They had escaped!

**15.**

Slocum watched furiously as the aqua-pod roared away fro the jetty and dived into the water. There would be no way to stop them before they reached the ocean now. He scratched at his beard and eyed the other men who returned his gaze nervously. "Don't just stand there," he snarled, "get to the pod and get after them!"

The men almost fell over themselves in obeying his orders and ran towards their aqua-pod so they could catch the escaping Megan and Katherine. Slocum followed after them, pulling out a small communicator from his pocket as he ran. On the back of the device were two wavy lines, one above the other. "This is Aquarius Two," Slocum said, "we're going to need back up!"

******************************

Her hands griping the controls tightly, Katherine sat nervously in the pilot's chair. She watched through the windscreen as she guided the aqua-pod carefully but quickly through the water. They had cleared the airlock from Triton station and were now back in the huge dark oceans of Lemeria.

Megan scratched her head as she studied the radar screen on the controls trying to decipher the meanings of the numbers and letters. She made some educated guesses and pressed a button. "I think I've got the hang of this," she said as a flashing icon appeared on the windscreen. "I've found where Reef City One is on the map and programmed it in. All you have to do is keep that," she pointed to the icon, "at the top of the screen and we head in the right direction! It's a bit like Sat-Nav!" she laughed. Then she frowned as another two blips appeared on the radar screen, one behind them and one in front. "Uh oh! Kath I think we're being followed! Put your foot down, those guys must want us bad!"

Katherine nodded and pushed the accelerator lever up a notch, feeling the pod quicken beneath her. "What's that other blip?" she asked without looking away from the screen in case she collided with an outcropping of the reef or any aquatic life.

"I'm not sure," began Megan, but Katherine interrupted her.

"Megan, look!"

Another aqua-pod, similar to the one they had encountered earlier, had loomed out of the darkness of the ocean and was heading straight towards them.

**16.**

Slocum stood behind the pilot chair and smiled with satisfaction as they chased the fleeing aqua-pod towards the back up ship. The pod tried to dart to one side but the other Aquarius ship put out a tractor beam and snared it like a fish before it had chance to escape. Now it was time to find out exactly what these two women knew!

**************************

Katherine and Megan watched with despair as their pod was dragged inexorably towards the other ship.

"Isn't there anyway we can get out of here?" cried Megan.

Katherine just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know!" The whole pod shook with the strain of the engines fighting against the pull of the beam. "It sounds like we're being ripped apart!"

Megan sat down in defeat and stabbed at the engine button. "Then we just have to sit it out!"

****************************

Slocum watched as their prey was dragged closer to the Aquarius ship. "Bring us alongside," he ordered to the pilot, "and extend an airlock. I'm going over to talk to these two'" He leant down and picked up his briefcase. They would tell him what he wanted to know- sooner or later.

****************************

The two girls heard the sound of the airlock tube as it attached to the hull of the pod and exchanged a nervous glance with each other.

"Looks like we're going to have visitors," whispered Katherine.

Megan nodded and left the cockpit with her friend as they went to meet the boarders.

****************************

The airlock opened and two Aquarius men darted through, their blasters drawn and ready to shoot down any hostile defenders that they encountered, but Katherine and Megan stood meekly in the small passenger area. The men, cautious of any trickery swept their guns around the area and then ran over to grab the two girls, forcing their arms behind their backs.

"Hey, watch it!" shouted Megan angrily, "We give in okay!"

"Just leave us alone!" added Katherine, wincing as the man grabbed her.

"Do as she says," ordered Slocum as he left the airlock and the two thugs hastily obeyed leaving the girls rubbing their bruised arms.

"Now then," smiled Slocum coldly, "you're going to tell me exactly where we can find Davenport and the million credits he stole from Aquarius!"

**17.**

Megan glanced angrily at Katherine; she knew she had been right never to trust JD! "We don't know," she fumed. "He conned us too and took all our money. When you find him, we want a bit of him as well!"

Slocum gave a sarcastic chuckle. "So you were just innocent bystanders?"

Katherine nodded. "Yes. We only just arrived on Reef City yesterday!" she pleaded.

"Oh I know," answered Slocum, "I had you checked out. But you were spending a lot of credits in those shops."

"That was ours," said Megan.

"Really, can you prove that?" asked Slocum. After the girls hesitated he reached into his case. "No I thought not. I'm going to put this on your wrist," he said to Katherine, pulling out a device that looked like a large wristwatch with several wires that connected it to a small laptop. "It'll tell me if you're lying," he continued as he pulled Katherine towards him. "If you are, we'll shoot you here and now!"

************************

Megan and Katherine sat gloomily in the hotel restaurant but this time neither felt like eating or drinking. And even if they did, they had no credits to pay for it.

Fortunately, Slocum had believed Katherine once she had told their story attached to his machine. He seemed to be satisfied that the answers she gave were truthful and that they were innocent of defrauding the Aquarius Corporation and not in partnership with JD. There was an awkward moment when he had asked them how they had arrived on the planet, but Megan had managed to steer the conversation away from mentioning the Doctor.

Slocum had returned them to Reef City One in the aqua-pod and advised them to leave as soon as they could. He, and the other 'investigators,' had then left to try and pick up the trail of JD again. The girls certainly had no affection for the man who had set them up and robbed them, but they knew that no amount of bargaining would have an effect on Slocum and his men who would kill JD without a second's hesitation.

Megan played idly with the business card that JD had given her what seemed like a century ago but was less than twenty four hours. She turned it over in her hands and fumed silently.

Suddenly she turned the card back over and angled it towards the light. On the back of the card were some small indentations that looked liked numbers.

**18.**

Katherine glanced towards Megan. "What are you doing?"

Megan quickly grabbed a pen from the bar and rubbed it gently across the card. "Someone was pressing on this card when they wrote something down, look!" She held up the card. "D12 does that mean?"

Katherine shrugged in despair, but after a moment her eyes lit up as realisation dawned. "It's a jetty number. I saw codes like this when we got on the pod both here and on Triton Station!"

"Dock 12, Jetty 31!" exclaimed Megan. She hopped off the stool. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"

The girls were so excited about discovering the information that they didn't notice a man in an expensive suit quickly finishing his drink and following them from the restaurant.

***********************

Slocum put down the communicator. "It looks like those two managed to lie after all. They're heading for Dock 12." He clicked his briefcase shut and gestured to the three men who sat around the table with him. "Let's see what they really know and then we kill them!"

************************

Megan and Katherine stared at the gleaming aqua-pod that was moored at Jetty 31. It was a small, but clearly expensive model – the aqua-pod equivalent of a Ferrari thought Megan angrily. They peered in through the glass of the passenger lounge and could see someone moving about inside so quickly ducked back out of sight.

"What are we going to do," whispered Katherine, "just walk in?"

"We bluff it out!" decided Megan and then, with a deep breath, pulled back the hatch and stepped through before Katherine could stop her.

She was half way down the steps into the passenger lounge when someone stepped through from the cockpit.

JD looked astonished and dropped the glass he had been holding.

Megan's face twisted with anger and she threw herself at JD, pummelling him with her fists. "You swine, you stole our money and set us up!" she screamed.

Katherine was right behind her friend and looked around for something heavy to pick up in case things turned even nastier than they were already.

"Hold it right there!" Another man stepped from the cockpit pointing a blaster at them and Katherine gasped as she recognised him.

It was Bradley.

**19.**

JD soon managed to get over the initial shock of seeing the two girls, grabbed Megan's arms and threw her off him. "It's your own fault," he snarled. "If you go spending enough credits, you'll get noticed!"

Katherine and a still incensed Megan stood side by side. Katherine stared at Bradley who held the gun on them. "But you were dead," she stammered. "Tyson said you'd been poisoned!"

Bradley smiled grimly. "Being dead is a good way of getting away with robbing Aquarius. They're not going to go after a corpse!"

JD nodded. "And bribing Tyson was easy enough. Just as easy as making it look like him and the lovely Dara had disappeared. They're probably miles away now!"

"So it was all a trick just for us?" spat Megan

JD shrugged. "Not quite. The two Lemerians were quite well connected too." He rummaged in his pocket and produced two credit chips. "And really, it was all for these!" he grinned. He threw one of them at Megan who caught it. "Empty now though," JD sneered.

Suddenly there was a movement from outside the pod as a shadow passed the passenger lounge windows.

Bradley turned to JD in alarm. "It's Aquarius!"

"You fools, they've followed you!" JD snarled at the two girls.

Suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once. The hatch behind the girls started to open and Katherine took advantage of the distraction to pick up the heavy glass water jug she had seen earlier and hurl it at Bradley. It hit the man on the shoulder and with a cry he dropped the gun.

Then there was the explosion of an energy blast over the girl's heads. Slocum stood at the top of the steps, his blaster still smoking, and with a groan, Bradley crashed lifeless to the floor.

JD didn't pause as he dashed up the opposite steps and into the cockpit.

Megan and Katherine threw themselves hurriedly behind some couches, not wanting to get between Slocum and JD. Fortunately, Slocum ignored them as he strode through the lounge, obviously intending to kill the thief that had stolen the Aquarius credits.

But now another Aquarius man had appeared at the top of the steps and pointed his blaster at Katherine with a savage grin on his face.

There was nowhere else to hide as the explosive shot of a blaster rang out.

**20.**

Suddenly, the engines of the aqua-pod roared into life and it darted away from the jetty, throwing the Aquarius killer that was threatening Katherine off balance and backwards into the water of the dock with a cry.

Katherine was thrown to the floor with a scream but Megan managed to crawl forwards and see what was happening in the cockpit. Slocum had just reached the top of the steps as JD had started the aqua-pod's engines, and the shot that he had fired had not killed JD but instead blown a large hole in the cockpit front window. Now Slocum held precariously onto a handrail as the pod accelerated away.

JD kicked out at Slocum and the blaster fell from his grip and clattered to the floor. With a snarl, Slocum hurled himself onto JD and the two men fell backwards onto the controls of the pod. As they did so, their bodies hit the rudder control of the pod sending it into a deep dive. Slocum and JD were thrown forward and with a terrible cry, both men vanished through the gaping and jagged hole in the front of cockpit window.

Dock water began to flood into the pod with incredible speed as the pod dived below the waters.

Katherine crawled across to Megan. "What are we going to do?" she yelled as water rushed around them and rapidly started to fill the cabin.

Then there was a sudden jolt and the girls felt the pod's dive abruptly halt. The pod levelled out and then, much to their relief, it started heading back towards the surface, water draining out from the shattered cockpit screen.

After a few seconds, the pod erupted onto the surface of the water as Megan and Katherine looked up through the lounge windows in astonishment.

Hovering a few metres above the surface of the water was the familiar blue shape of the TARDIS, a golden energy beam projecting from the lamp on the roof and enveloping the aqua-pod. The door to the TARDIS opened and the Doctor leant out, hanging onto the door.

"Do you miss me?" he grinned.

The two girls, with grins from ear to ear, rushed to the aqua-pod hatch and opened it. The Doctor stretched out his hand and first Megan and then Katherine jumped into the TARDIS and hugged him together. The Doctor returned the hug with an even bigger grin.

"How did you find us?" asked Megan with relief.

"Still got that credit chip?" winked the Doctor and Megan nodded. "The TARDIS homed in on a little transceiver I put onto it. "He winked. "Think of everything me! Now then," the Doctor rubbed his hands together, "been having fun have we?"

_**Next Time**__: The Doctor, Katherine and Megan arrive back on Earth in the Wild West as they struggle to save the Earth in '__**Avatars of Stone'**__. _

**Ocean of Deceit - Confidential**.

The idea for this story came after I had the idea for 'Never Say Die'. I knew that if I was effectively killing off the Brigadier, I didn't want to have companions cluttering up the story as it would just be a two –hander between the Doctor and his oldest friend.

Coupled with this was the desire to emulate the TV show and do a 'Doc-lite' story, so I decided to just use the characters of Katherine and Megan in this one.

If you have two female characters, and I wanted a kind of 'road movie' to explore them a bit more, the natural source is the film 'Thelma and Louise'. The names of two of the characters in 'Ocean' were also taken from the film – JD and Slocum. For the casting of the two parts, I went for Ian Kelsey for JD, and a familiar name for Slocum with Maurice Roeves (Stotz from 'Androzani').

The prologue of 'Ocean' was actually written last, but I knew I wanted a 'flash-forward' start with them in mortal peril, before rewinding and starting the story afresh. The classic ending of 'Thelma and Louise' was the two girls driving of a cliff into the Grand Canyon, so I tried my best to get my story somewhere in that direction!

In fact, the world of Lemeria was devised to just that end after discarding an earlier idea of having an artificial world with lots of different cities and places in huge glass domes in space and 'warping' between them. In that version, Katherine and Megan were going to be heading into a black hole at the end!

So space became water and shuttles became aqua-pods. But the idea of 'driving' between places like you would pull into a garage or service station (like Triton station), was still the same.

In a very early draft, the native population of Lemeria (who I imagined looked a bit like Terileptils by the way) had a much larger role and were behind trying to get the Aquarius Corporation off Lemeria, but this had to go as there was not enough time to do the subplot justice.

I hope you enjoyed reading the story and this little insight into the creation of it. I think I tried to push the format a bit and do something a little different and I think it worked well.

Back to a far more traditional story next time, and the start of another two part adventure.


End file.
